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Throwing The Shaker Starting with your wrist in a vertical position, the shaker should be shoulder level, so that all of you fingertips are visable (fig. 1).
Next, you want to ‘throw’ the shaker forward, by moving it away from your body, in an arc-like motion as if you are rolling it over your wrist (figs 2, 3).
The last motion is to snap your wrist (fig. 4), at the moment that you want to create the accented note, which should be at the end of the motion.
Also, when I play this instrument, I tilt it slightly so the beads are gathered at the bottom, which gives me a lot more control. What I will do now is demonstrate a few different patterns I use.
1 The first is a 1/4-note pattern. 1/4 note: CD Track 62 – Fratangelo Ex. 1
2 My next example, one I use quite a bit (as there are 1/8-note modes in a lot of
songs), is a V-shaped pattern. Here I’m
going to play top and bottom, you’ll hear each
1/8 note. This gives me added control of the
beads. Rather than keeping the shaker in one
spot, as you saw with the 1/4 notes, here I’ll give
a little more movement to the beads. Let’s try
the 1/8 note.
1/8 notes: CD Track 63 – Fratangelo Ex. 2
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3 This next pattern is a 1/16-note pattern with the accent on the A. In samba, since it is in two, it will be A-one-e-and,
A-two-e-and. In this example the A is on the backbeat. As a pick up, we’ll have A-one-e-and A-two-e-and. Let’s try that, with the accent on the backside rather than being thrown forward. 1/16 on A: CD Track 64 – Fratangelo Ex. 3
4 In this next pattern the accent will be on the E. Here we’ll have one-E, two-E, and
that is also a backhand accent, coming
back towards you. With the snap of the wrist we
will get the accent on the E or the A, because
we have one-E-and-A. E’s and A’s are back, ONEs
and the ANDs are forward. This will be the E.
one-E-and-a, two-E-and-a.
1/16 on E: CD Track 65 – Frantangelo Ex. 4
5 In this next pattern, we will accent the E-AND. It will be a backwards throw and a forward throw.
1/16’s on E-AND:
CD Track 66 – Frantangelo Ex. 5
6 In our next pattern, we are going to accent the AND A. Since the ONEs and the
ANDs are being thrown out, it’s going to be AND A coming back.
1/16’s on AND A:
CD Track 67 – Fratangelo Ex. 6
7 This next pattern is going to be a combination of A-ONE, A-TWO. This will mean that my throw is back and forward.
A-ONE, A-TWO.
1/16’s on A-ONE:
CD Track 68 – Fratangelo Ex. 7
8 We’ve now covered all our accents within 1/16 notes. We’ve covered the 1/4 note, the 1/8 note, we’ve also covered the ONE,
the E, the AND, the A, as well as the combinations: ONE-E; E-AND; AND-A; A-ONE. In this last one, let’s put in all the accents. So we get a nice even 1/16-note shaker pattern, remember all the accents.
1/16’s on ALL:
CD Track 69 – Fratangelo Ex. 8
Shaker Beads:
9 Now that we understand how to play the cylindrical shaker, because of the
corrugated sides, we can play it a few
different ways. What I’m going to do next is play
a combination of things demonstrating how,
in the 1/16-note pattern, I can use the sides to
get some variations on the sound of the beads
within the cylinder. This helps the shaker sound
not so one-dimensional as it can when the
beads remain in one end.
CD Track 70 – Fratangelo Ex. 9
10 Many times with this shaker, I’ll play circles throwing the beads over the
top. This gives a sort of circular sound
to the shaker. In this next pattern, I’m going to
do a slight circular pattern after I get started so
you can see how the beads will get longer tones
by throwing them around the shaker rather
than just against its walls.
CD Track 71 – Fratangelo Ex. 10
After you’ve mastered all the different accents with your right hand, you can add another shaker in your left hand. This gives another dimension, and a stereo effect, to the music. When mic’d or recorded, the sound can be panned or used however your sound engineer would like to use it. Sometimes in the mix one shaker will be playing; sometimes they’ll both be playing. When I play two shakers, I’ll either mimic the pattern so that both shakers are playing the same pattern, I will play opposing patterns, or sometimes I will use accents in the left as I keep a steady pattern in the right. This is like a drummer keeping a ride cymbal pattern and playing accents to this basic rhythm around the drum kit. In this example, I’ll be playing the accents with my left hand, while keeping a steady shaker pattern in my right.
11 The first one I am going to play, just to get us started, is to have both shakers
playing the same pattern. Then, as we
move on, I will show you alternating patterns
that we have of opposing patterns, or the
accents that I’ll be playing in my left hand. So
the first one will just be two shakers playing the
exact same pattern.
Unison: CD Track 72 – Fratangelo Ex. 11
12 Now that the two shakers can both play the same pattern, what I’ll do next
is lead with the left hand on the samba
pattern we talked about earlier, so it’s A-ONE,
A-TWO, A-ONE, A-TWO. The left hand is going to
do the lead, because that’s where the A is going
to come from.
References:
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